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The U.S. produced 20,000 gallons of cellulosic biofuels last year and is projected to produce 250 million gallons in 2015, short of the Renewable Fuel Standard's 2012 target of 500 million gallons and one billion gallons this year. But Andy Heggenstaller, agronomy research manager for DuPont Pioneer, is optimistic that the industry will rise to the challenge. "I think what we're going to see is that DuPont and some other companies are going to make this happen in that 2015 timeframe," Heggenstaller said.

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Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., has introduced a bill that would base the Renewable Fuel Standard's cellulosic requirement on actual production. The bill would also exclude biogas-based fuels from the statutory definition of cellulosic biofuels. If the bill passes, the Environmental Protection Agency would use the average monthly volume of cellulosic fuel produced at specific facilities from January through October to determine the estimated annualized volume of cellulosic biofuel produced at each facility for the current year, which in turn would be used to calculate the yearly cellulosic RFS requirement.

A law that will allow for the approval of new biotech crop varieties was passed by the European Union. DuPont Pioneer and Dow AgroScience's pest-resistant maize 1507 and some imported biotech crops are expected to receive approval. The law will go into effect 20 days after it is published in EU's Official Journal on Friday.

DuPont struck a partnership deal with the Department of Agriculture to create guidelines for how the company's cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa, will obtain corn stover without harming soil quality. The biorefinery, which is due to enter service in 2014, is expected to produce 30 million gallons of ethanol from 375,000 tons of corn stover annually. "Cellulosic advanced biofuel is here and it's here to stay," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

DuPont is partnering with Iowa State University to develop more efficient ways of collecting, storing and transporting corn residue. "Growers who achieve high yields per acre typically find that residue becomes difficult to manage. It can be a time-consuming and costly process," said Andy Heggenstaller, an agronomy research manager with DuPont subsidiary Pioneer.